The Principles of Prayer LVIII

 Injustice does not occur in a vacuum. It cannot remain invisible, nor can it be hidden even though those doling it out would prefer it were so. Those for whom injustice is their bread and butter couldn’t care less when it comes to who they hurt, or how many, as long as they get their way. They will lie, cheat, and steal without ever considering the collateral damage as long as they can retain the trinkets and baubles to which they’ve grown accustomed, and upon which they’ve become dependent. Whether it’s CEOs running off with their employees’ pension fund or church elders convincing their flock to invest in a pyramid scheme, the callousness of such individuals is off-putting and heinous.  

While some care about the optics of it and try to veil their unjust machinations, others consider themselves so above the adverse reactions of those they preside over that they simply don’t care. The unjust judge fell into the latter camp. He neither feared God nor cared what people thought. He was a law unto himself, doing as he pleased, without forethought of how he would be perceived by anyone, whether earthly or divine.

In modern parlance, one could rightly conclude that the unjust judge had a god complex that dictated his actions to the point of doing as he willed, when he willed. In his mind, he was the final authority and would not consider the existence of one higher than himself. As such, everyone else was beneath him, and dispensing true justice was something he failed to consider.

Even so, it did not stop the widow from pursuing justice and doing so with tenacity. Whenever I read this parable, the widow reminds me of all the women in my life. From my grandmother, to my mother, to my wife, and even my daughters, that boldness and unwillingness to be cowed when they know they have the right of it, is something endearing and admirable. In a world where boldness is in short supply, and everyone would rather go along to get along instead of standing on truth, it is always refreshing to see it firsthand.

There was no timidity in the widowed woman. She didn’t come before the unjust judge once, then give up the moment he denied her request. She did not shrink away, break down, give up, or abandon her course. What made her so bold? What compelled her to press on, persevere, and continually come before the judge pleading for justice?

The first thing that served to embolden the widow to continue seeking justice was knowing that she was in the right. You cannot plead for a lie, you cannot champion the cause of unrighteousness and expect God’s help, deliverance, or intervention. She stood on the truth, and the knowledge of this gave her a boldness that was, perhaps, even uncharacteristic of her nature.

Never be afraid to stand for the truth. Never be afraid to defend it, champion it, and plead for it, because the silence of the godly emboldens the ungodly. Turning a blind eye to injustice helps perpetuate it and strengthen its foothold. If you know you are standing for truth, then there is nothing to fear. God is with you.

The worst the world can do is kill the flesh. The question that must be asked and answered by each of us individually is whether standing for the truth and pleading for justice in the face of injustice is worth the price. If called upon to do so, is your proclamation and declaration of Jesus Christ as Lord, King, and Savior, worth the price of this present life? As for me, the answer is a resounding yes, as has been the case for countless others who have come before me who understood the purpose of their existence, and the truth that Jesus spoke wherein He warned all who would hear that if we deny Him before man, He will deny us before the Father who is in heaven.

When you stand on the truth of Scripture, fear, timidity, reticence, and apprehension fall away. They no longer hold sway, they no longer influence, and they are no longer a determining factor in the things you say. Truth, knowing the truth, and living the truth will give you the boldness to speak it, no matter the situation, or how many might gnash their teeth at hearing it.

There may be moments in your life when you lack boldness. Whether due to implicit or explicit threats, or the realization that speaking the truth might make you persona non grata, we’ve all had those moments when we held in a breath, closed our eyes, and saw the outcome of what speaking the truth would mean, before the first word was ever spoken. Whether it's foresight, intuition, or having been in the same predicament so many times that you know how it will end, there is that moment of discomfort of seeing how the situation will play out in your mind beforehand.

In such instances, all we can do is close our eyes, pray for boldness, and speak the words we know we ought to say, letting the chips fall where they may. Whether you are speaking the truth of Scripture is the only thing that matters. Not if what you’ll say will make you more popular, or whether it will be received in the spirit in which it was intended, not if what you’ll say will hurt someone’s feelings or make them angry, but whether or not it is the truth.

When we allow other factors other than the truth to determine whether or not we will act in a particular situation, the truth is betrayed and discarded. The flesh will always find a reason for us not to boldly proclaim the name Jesus. It will always find an excuse and justification for why we ought to keep quiet, keep our heads down, and not stir the pot. Whatever the reason may be, however viable and reasonable to our human mind, keeping silent when we know we ought to speak up is always and without equivocation the wrong course of action.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.